Canadian shoppers, drawn by the variety and prices of products, flock to Syracuse to shop, dine, stay -- and fly

Dick Blume / The Post-StandardRuth and Ken Garvey, from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, shop at Macy's at Carousel Center mall Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving. There's been a surge in shoppers visiting Central New York over the last year.

Syracuse, NY -- If you think the Canadian border may have moved 100 or so miles south, don’t let anyone call you loonie.

Canadians and their loonies — the nickname of the Canadian dollar coin — are invading Central New York and flooding its shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, liquor stores and more.

It’s happened in great numbers for more than a year, the presence of our neighbors in our ’hood only accelerated over the holiday shopping season, merchants and mall managers say.

They’re coming by the busload but more, by car. Canadian license plate counts are soaring at Carousel Center mall. Some Carrier Circle hotels were sold out, mostly to Canadians, over the Thanksgiving weekends. Nearby restaurants saw those staying at the hotels filling table seats and bar stools.

Carousel Center is showing up to 20 percent of its traffic from Canadian shoppers.

“Registered bus group traffic from Canada was up 50 percent for the month of November at Carousel Center,” said Rob Schoeneck, general manager of the mall. “Several merchants attest to the strength of Canadian traffic here and their impact on sales.”

That’s just registered buses. Schoeneck said only 30 percent to 40 percent of the Canadian tour buses that stop at Carousel Center register, or notify the mall they are coming. Others just stop.

It’s the same at the Wegmans in DeWitt, which is also seeing busloads of Canadians stop to shop.

“We have had Canadian tour buses stop at our DeWitt store on some Sundays,” said Evelyn Carter, speaking for the Rochester-based supermarket chain. “They normally stop there for lunch. Oftentimes we do not get prior notice. However, on occasion they have called us the morning to let us know of their arrival.”

It’s not a new phenomenon, and it isn’t seasonal.

Over the last couple of decades, when the Canadian dollar gets stronger than the U.S. dollar, Canadians step up their border crossings to shop across Upstate New York, according to store and mall managers as well as border-crossing authorities.

Canadian Border Services Agency officials told Canadian publications the agency expected many thousands of Canadians to flood across the Canadian border to do their holiday shopping in the United States.

On the U.S. side, those who control ways to get between the two countries confirm traffic is up.

Robert Hore, executive director of the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, said there’s been a slight increase — perhaps 2 percent — of auto traffic across the bridge linking the two nations north of Watertown, which up to just before Christmas, had 1.8 million car crossings this year.

“Historically over the last year, we’ve seen that increase just because Canadian shoppers are coming, and not just for the holidays,” said Hore. “The shopping opportunities in Watertown, Syracuse and the outlets at Waterloo are a huge draw, yes. We’ve certainly seen an increase. And it all has to do with the value of the U.S. versus Canadian dollar.”

Sort of.

The two currencies are about par right now. A big reason Canadian shoppers are coming to the U.S., and Syracuse in particular, is for the wide variety of stores and variety of goods they cannot purchase in Canada. And to escape goods and services taxes and other sales taxes, which are, they say, much higher in their homeland.

Ruth McMahon of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, visited the Syracuse area twice this year with her husband, Dennis. Their trips included during to shop during the Thanksgiving weekend, and earlier in the year, to shop and bicycle in the Fingerlakes region.

“It’s the prices and the selection. The selection you have is greater, and different,” said McMahon. “For example, you guys have Ann Taylor and a lot of other stores geared toward the professional, women who work, that we don’t have. There are a limited selection of clothing stores here, so if you’re not careful, you end up wearing the same thing everyone else has.

“This summer, we discovered Waterloo Premium Outlets and we will absolutely go back for that.”

McMahon said she and some of her friends and family have been shopping in the United States for the past 25 years, sometimes joining women she works with on shopping trips south of their border.

“It’s a tradition to go to Syracuse for shopping,” said McMahon. “You guys have much lower sales taxes, which is another reason. And when our (dollar) is worth more, it’s more advantageous. Still, the prices (in the U.S.) are better, especially if you buy something on sale.”

Some of McMahon’s friends also grocery shop, citing a broader selection of grocery products, especially cheeses and meats, said McMahon.

McMahon said she and her husband bought wines in Central New York, which, she says, has a much broader selection than she finds in Canada.

Central New York liquor stores are seeing the Canadian effect.Brian Hughes, one of the owners of Pascale’s Liquor Square in DeWitt, said he’s had conversations with several Canadian shoppers who say they drive here in order to visit Carousel Center, the outlets at Waterloo and other stores in the Syracuse market — including Liquor Square.

“They’re buying,” said Hughes. “For them, it’s about selection, and a little about price on wines. I don’t know if you’ve been to Toronto or Montreal, but Robert Mondavi Private Selection Merlot that we sell for $9 is 50 bucks up there. Our liquor prices are strong. But they shop their limit and that’s it. They go around — they’re pretty selective — they get their limit.

“We’re there probably once every few months,” said McMahon. “You have products we can’t get here, food items, a lot bigger variety of clothing down there. Prices are a lot better there, so people really want to shop.”

The last trip was Thanksgiving weekend. That group stayed at the Ramada hotel on Buckley Road.

Last year, Howard Travel didn’t have enough clients to come to the Syracuse area that weekend.

“This year we had close to 40 people going,” said McMahon.

Supermarkets are the last stop on the return trip for some bus trips. The travelers like to stock up on frozen dinners, as well as cereals, yogurts, English muffins and other bread products and a wide variety of snack foods, said McMahon.

“You have more variety than we do,” said McMahon.

Hotels felt the Canuck crush.

Bradley Zimmer, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott at Carrier Circle, said the Canadian shoppers help occupancy on weekends, with 10 percent to 15 percent of that hotel’s weekend business Canadian.

“Absolutely,” said Zimmer. “We have certain guests from the Ottawa area that come down to shop all the time.

“We have a lot of repeat people, too. Syracuse is like a halfway point for Canadian travels heading to D.C., Boston and other places.”

Near the Marriott, chef Justin Wright of Justin’s restaurant at Yorktown Circle said he knows of the Canadians.

“It’s had a positive impact on my business and a big-time impact on the hotels,” said Wright. “Hurray for Uncle Bob Congel. Somebody has to support his mall.”

And the mall is part of the attraction. The Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau watches its website traffic and hears from publications in Canada eager to do stories about the Syracuse market, and Carousel is a part of that.

Like The Force, the Canadian impact is felt.

“We’re definitely aware of it,” said Danica Bryant Kaltaler, the bureau’s communications manager. “We can’t determine how many Canadians are staying in area hotels, but from November through (just before Christmas), visitations from Canadians going to our website was up 26 percent compared to last year.

“It’s really exciting. We continue to focus on the Canadian market, particularly Ottawa and Kingston. We have great relationships with media outlets there.”

But Canadians aren’t just taking advantage of the region’s shopping opportunities.

They like the cheaper airfares from Syracuse Hancock Airport — despite what local residents may think of the ticket prices.

“I do know a lot of people from Ottawa, including us, who drive three hours to Syracuse for flights,” said Ruth McMahon of Ottawa. “A flight from Ottawa to New York City would cost us $1,300 for two tickets. From Syracuse, it was $300. So we drive to Syracuse, get a hotel, park our car then take advantage of the shopping and the flight. I have friends, and friends’ parents, who always fly from Syracuse.”